Friday, April 13, 2012

Slumgullion #109

The indestructible Captain Jack comes to Chicago’s lakefront. Photo from John Barrowman’s official website.

Nerds Gone Wild. Hundreds of people in strange costumes are milling around the North Building at McCormick Place in Chicago as you read this. Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) kicked off its 2012 weekend of celebrities, panels, and comic artists today. Entertainment guests include native Chicagoan John Cusack, promoting his upcoming movie, The Raven; TV personality and Nerdist website founder Chris Hardwicke; Doctor Who/Torchwood star John Barrowman; actress Lauren Cohan from The Vampire Diaries and The Walking Dead; and musician/comic writer Tom Morello. C2E2 runs through Sunday evening.

The Early Birds Are Chirping. The next two Saturdays are going to be fun and challenging for vinyl junkies. Next Saturday is Record Store Day (I’m hoping to post a preview soon), and tomorrow brings the 10th Annual Chicago Independent Radio Project (CHIRP) Record Fair to the Chicago Journeyman Plumbers Union Hall at 1340 W. Washington. The $7 admission gives you access to tons of records for sale, as well as live entertainment and Pop Quiz Trivia. There will be a pre-admission sale from 8:00 to 10:00 AM tomorrow. The price for getting first crack at all those musical treasures is $25. The Fair also runs on Sunday.

Gag Order. Jamie Masada, a stand-up comic with loads of experience in helping out worthy causes will be hosting the The Jokes 4 Miles Joke-a-Thon at the Laugh Factory club in Chicago on Tuesday, April 24th and Wednesday, April 25th. Jokes 4 Miles is a project run by veteran stand-up comedian Len Austrevich. He’s determined to collect 5,000 videotaped jokes for his son, Miles, who has brain cancer, and gets a huge emotional boost from watching the clips. The idea is to attract a mix of performers and people off the street to drop by to be videotaped telling a gag (preferably clean) for Miles. Another Joke-a-Thon will be held simultaneously at The Laugh Factory in Los Angeles.

Rock & Fashion. The past 20 years of rock music and its accompanying fashion trends seem to have zipped by in a blur. Fortunately, the U.K.-based Fashion Rider Blog has captured it all in an eye-catching chart that covers everything from Grunge queen Courtney Love (“A sick twist on childlike clothing”) to the military style associated with Britpop band, Oasis. I’m not sure what Chiptune is, but apparently it’s coming in the near future and involves wearing nothing but a t shirt and thigh-high boots.

Acoustic At The Cavern. When I reviewed Manchester-based musician Paul Hughes’s one-man band The Candy Strypers’ digital album, ¡contenidos caliente!, earlier this week, I mentioned it would be great to hear these catchy power pop songs in a live setting. I’ve just heard from Hughes that he’ll be playing an acoustic gig at The Cavern Club, as part of International Pop Overthrow - Liverpool. “I'm just totally psyched to play at the spiritual home of The Beatles,”Hughes wrote in an email, “who have always been my first musical love!” International Pop Overthrow - Liverpool takes place from May 15th through the 22nd, quickly followed by IPO - London, from May 25th through the 27th.

Bash Is Back. In the meantime, International Pop Overthrow - Chicago kicks off a ten-day run next Thursday. IPO CEO/Founder David Bash has opted to stage all of this year’s showcases at Red Line Tap. I'm hoping to post previews of the participating bands, starting early next week.

Head On A Platter.The Head, the young Atlanta power pop trio that impressed with its second CD, Hang On, has a new 7" vinyl single called “Tony” b/w “Gotta Fall” coming out May 8th. It’s a preview from their soon to be released third CD.

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About This Blog

Broken Hearted Toy is an eclectic celebration of creativity, with over 2,000 posts since 2009.

It's based in Chicago but covers power pop, garage, cutting-edge, and 1960s rock from around the globe; along with occasional bits on art; literature; and theatre.

Top of the hill is a nice place to be at. - - - "Elevated Observations" by The Hollies.

Check out some of my previoius creative endeavors.

Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff was a weekly Internet show created by and starring Jeff Kelley. It mostly consisted of comedy bits and obscure 1960s garage rock set to vintage TV and film clips but also spotlighted entertainment events around Illinois.

My wife Pam and I created a handful of series (each episode was about two minutes long) that were shown on Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. They included Manchester Gallery (see description below); Old Days, which I hosted in the persona of a cranky old man named Fritz Willoughby; Roving Reporter, where I played the clueless title character; What's With Terry?, a performance arts program; and Hanging With The Hollies, a takeoff on Breakfast With The Beatles.

I've also worked with Kelley and Willy Deal on comedy clips, and with Kelley and David Metzger on films for the annual Nightmare on Chicago Street Halloween festival in Elgin.

I'm particularly proud of this 21-episode comedy series Pam and I created for Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. Each installment was a few minutes long, and featured me portraying Terrence, the curator of a pop culture museum.

I was a staff writer for this Chicago-based magazine from 1987 to 2015. The Illinois Entertainer has been covering rock music for over 40 years, and can be found in stores and entertainment venues, as well as in an online edition.

Chicago Art Machine was a web-based publishing company run by Editor-in-Chief, Kathryn Born, and Managing Editor, Robin Dluzen, that included Chicago Art Magazine, Chicago DIY Film,Chicago Performance And Trailers, and TINC. Most of my submissions appeared in Chicago DIY Film and Chicago Performance And Trailers, although I contributed to all the online Chicago Art Machine publications.

I was a writer and performer with this local comedy group from 1989 to 2009. Famous In The Future continues to perform in the Chicago area, and appeared at every one of the Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sinstheatre festivals that were held at the Mary-Arrchie Theatre. Since the closing of the Mary-Arrchie Theatre a few years ago, Famous In The Future has carried on the tradition by presenting Yippie Fest each year in August.

I'm an active member of SCBWI, (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) and have written two Middle Grade fantasy novels. I've just finished a YA/paranormal novel, and also wrote a suspense/satiric novel that takes place amidst Chicago's alternative music scene in the mid-1980s.

Broken Hearted Toy

The blog title comes from the line, "I'm the brokenhearted toy you play with" in the song "I Can't Let Go" by The Hollies. One of the great original British Invasion bands, The Hollies continue to have an immense influence on power pop bands to this day, and have finally been inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here is a video of "I Can't Let Go" being performed in 1966.